New Delhi: This is the largest phase of voting in this seven-phase process for the 18th Lok Sabha. It is the longest election schedule for the Lok Sabha. (In 2004, the process took only 20 days.)

102 seats across 21 states and Union territories got to polls today.

1,625 candidates are in the fray.

Over 16.63 crore people can vote in this phase. Male voters are 8.4 crore and female voters are 8.23 crore.

There are 35.67 lakh first-time voters.

3.51 crore young voters of ages 20-29.

18 lakh polling personnel are deployed.

Polling stations have opened from 7 am to 6 pm.

Voting for two state assemblies in Sikkim (32 assembly seats) and Arunachal (60 assembly seats) is also on.

Five seats in Assam and one in J&K will have their first election after delimitation. J&K (Udhampur) will have its first election after losing statehood and being turned into a UT (India’s first such example).

As per 2019 figures, in this phase, BJP has 40 seats, Congress 15, DMK 24, AIADMK 1, BSP 3, SP 2 and Others 17.

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